A national fraternity group has closed its University of Mississippi chapter after three members were accused of tying a noose around the neck of a statue of the first black student to enroll in the Southern college that was all-white at the time.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant on Wednesday signed three bills to limit union activities in Mississippi, saying he hopes they strengthen the state's reputation as a place where organized labor has little influence.

Southern Co. says it has signed a deal with a state-owned Chinese coal and energy company to work together to develop coal technologies, based in part on the coal gasification and carbon capture technology that Southern subsidiary Mississippi Power Co. is deploying at the $5 billion Kemper County power plant.

Mississippi's state Capitol is quiet and empty now that the 2014 Legislature has gone home.
But the grand spaces of the rotunda and House and Senate chambers can't hide it -- the people's house has grown too small.

With corn prices down, Mississippi farmers are likely to plant more cotton than 2013's record low acreage. But soybeans are still king, with almost as many acres expected to be planted than all other crops combined.